Is all O1 precision ground?

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
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I want to experment with some O1, but I could care less about it being precision ground. I can't seem to find it unless it is precision ground, though. Any ideas, or is that just how it's done? If so, why?
 
No...not all of it....but it is kinda tough to find on mill form.

I have gotten several bars from Kovals that was mill.
 
NO. You should be able to find hot rolled annealed somewhere.Precision ground however shouldn't have any decarb on the surface, that's one advantage.
 
Well, I checked out flatround.com and their 3/16"x1"x36", precision ground, is $24.93. Comparing that to the same thing from Koval's I would be saving $30 per piece! Whoa! Guess I know where I'm getting my O1 from! I usually order everything from Koval, but not this time...
 
FWIW, I spent some time between patients combing through old O1 threads (won't actually search for O1 by itself!) and I checked all the links to steel and flatground.com seems to be much better than anything I've found so far.

Also, on the topic of O1, I found tempering instructions for anything from 300-500 degrees! One person said a chart said that 500° gave a hardness of 58-60HRC, yet everyone seems to be tempering it around 375-380 or so, which should be around 61RC. Is this right? Is that really how hard it will turn out?
 
Toolanddie.com has timken latrobe 3/16x1x36 for $18.77 or 18.35 for 2 or more. I've found them to be real cheap for O1 and they ship quickly also.

WS
 
Chiro75:
I've got a data sheet from Corus (now Encor) metals. They list HRC64 tempering at 100 degC, HRC62 at 200 degC, all the way down to HRC53 at 400 degC. This is after heating to 780-820 and oil quench at 180-220.
Only farenheit conversion I know is boiling point of water - 100 degC or 212 degF.
Hope this helps, I've got a whole PDF file but you probably have the info already.
 
Thanks for the tips. I'll bust my calculator out later! As far as Toolanddie, I thought I checked their price on 3/16x1.5x36 and it was more (that's the size I'm really after) but I'll take a second look. I like using 1095 for my smaller knives, but O1 seems like a good choice for bigger stuff.
 
When I go to flatround.com I get some digital video service outfit by that name.
 
Try this Walt

http://www.flatground.com/catalog/

Personally, I'm for Tool and Die. I've been buying all my O1 there for several years and found them to be inexpensive and, like was previously noted, they have very fast shipping. I've had steel on my porch the second day after my online order.
 
Walt go to www.toolanddie.com and click on to flatstock.com then click on to ground flat stock. I get all my D2, A2 and just started getting O1. They are fast with delivery.
Scott
 
I've used toolanddie.com before for some 4140, they were really fast,
I have a question and observation about the O1 they have, I was looking around on their site and they have two different brands of 01, one Presco listed under flat-stock.com heading, the other is Timken 01, the timken is cheaper and it says it has free shipping with a $5.95 handing charge if you buy only timken products. Does anybody see a reason to go with the presco over the timken? is it better quality or just more expensive?
anyway, keep the free shipping thing in mind if your in need of some O1 :)
 
Different mills make steels to different recipies and this means that you should stick to one maker .Of course having worked for Timken I can tell you that they make very good steel.
 
Price Comparison:
Flatground.com (sorry for leaving the "g" out before, Walt! Could've been a worse rerouting, trust me!): 3/16"x1.5"x36" precision ground is $24.93 with $6.22 S/H for a total of $31.15. If I change my order to 3 of these bars instead of 1, to investigate the s/h charges, the steel is the same price with $7.58 S/H for a total of $82.37.

Toolanddie.com: Same size precision ground is $23.94 for a single bar and $23.51 for one or more. I'll skip everything else and just do three bars to see who's best. That comes to... well, need a password and ID, but assuming the $5.95 shipping charge mentioned above that would come to $76.50 or so, so we have a winner!

Toolanddie is #1 for cheap bastids like me! :D
 
cooks 7 said:
I've used toolanddie.com before for some 4140, they were really fast,
I have a question and observation about the O1 they have, I was looking around on their site and they have two different brands of 01, one Presco listed under flat-stock.com heading, the other is Timken 01, the timken is cheaper and it says it has free shipping with a $5.95 handing charge if you buy only timken products. Does anybody see a reason to go with the presco over the timken? is it better quality or just more expensive?
anyway, keep the free shipping thing in mind if your in need of some O1 :)
Click to expand...
I've been using the Pesco, I guess because I thought it was cheaper - no other reason I'd pick one over the other, not knowing any different. :D One thing I attribute to the Pesco, and I've been thinking about trying the Timken for this reason, is that the Pesco grain shows up quite prominently. Sometimes it's hard to get a good polish because it's so visible. I don't really like it though I have no idea whether it matters from a performance standpoint.
 
I haven't compared O1 but the last time I ordered some D2, TKS was $11.16 cheaper on a 36" piece than Tool and Die was. TKS is about 100 miles from me so I get very fast service from them
 
FWIW, TKS is $9.95/foot for the same size of material, so it looks like ToolandDie is the way to go this time for O1
 
I have seen ANSI O1 with .30 vanadium. Badger O1 doesn't contain that trace element, but it could contribute to differenet price and performance with it included. On the other hand as Ken Warner said the differeneces might be theoretical on one hand and immesurable on the other.
 
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